International derivatives marketplace CME Group today announced that the number of market participants trading Aluminum futures has doubled since last year, reaching 406 unique accounts in April, while ADV was up 70% year-over-year, and average daily open interest increased 11%.

“We continue to grow liquidity in our Aluminum futures, which in turn has increased our contract’s acceptance within the industrial metals industry,” said Jin Hennig, Managing Director and Global Head of Metals at CME Group. “In addition to doubling our client participation since last year, April marked the first time a physical transaction has referenced our Aluminum futures pricing, which underscores the strong commercial demand we are seeing for our transparent and well-understood markets.”

“We are pleased to have executed the first physical contract referencing CME Group Aluminum futures prices after witnessing its growing relevancy over the last few years,” said Brian Hesse, CEO of PerenniAL Aluminum. “CME Group has worked diligently to expand participation in their markets and create viable alternative solutions that benefit our clients. We look forward to seeing how these markets continue to grow and evolve to help our industry mitigate price risk effectively.”

CME Group’s base metals complex has been growing consistently year-over-year. Copper futures and options also achieved April records, with futures reaching record ADV of 194,937 and options reaching record ADV of 19,513. Copper futures and options reached a combined open interest record of 588,115 contracts on April 24, 2024.

Aluminum (ALI) futures are listed by and subject to the rules of COMEX.